Development and evaluation of a culturally grounded, empowerment self defense program for adult women survivors of sexual violence

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded the Regents of the University of Michigan a $709,802 Project Grant (CFDA 93.242 – Mental Health Research Grants) on June 15, 2025, for the development and evaluation of a culturally grounded empowerment self-defense (ESD) intervention program targeting American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women survivors of sexual violence. The three-year project, extending through June 14, 2028, will deliver a culturally adapted version of the IMPOWER ESD program (designated IMPOWER-SURVIVORS) designed to address moderate to severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in this underserved population. The research team will employ an indigenized adaptation framework incorporating feedback from topic experts, traditional knowledge keepers, and survivor advisory boards to ensure cultural relevance and applicability within rural and remote tribal communities where access to mental health services is limited.

The project will produce a rigorously evaluated, evidence-based mental health intervention grounded in AI/AN cultural values and community priorities. Deliverables include the refined IMPOWER-SURVIVORS program protocol, implementation guidance for tribal communities, and peer-reviewed research findings documenting the program's efficacy in reducing depression and PTSD symptoms among AI/AN adult women survivors. This initiative addresses a critical gap in mental health research by extending empirically supported treatments developed for non-AI/AN populations into a culturally appropriate format, responding directly to requests from tribal partners for accessible, culturally responsive mental health interventions.

Abstract

American indian/alaska native (AI/an) women experience disproportionately high rates of sexual violence (SV) and subsequent symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) as well as related issues such as suicidality, problem drinking, sexual revictimization, and intimate partner violence (IPV). We know little about how to address mental health problems related to SV in AI/an women, particularly those living in rural/remote tribal communities where access to quality care is limited or non-existent. Current best practices for AI/an populations suggest that existing empirically supported treatments for mental health concerns have limited applicability and stress the need to develop and test culturally adapted interventions. The current proposal supports a culturally grounded mental health initiative that centers AI/an voices, leverages the power of connection to others, and moves away from individualistic interventions. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to culturally adapt and evaluate an empowerment self-defense (ESD) program (i.e., impower) for AI/an women who have experienced SV in their lifetime and currently experiencing moderate to severe levels of depression and/or ptsd symptoms (primary outcomes). Previous research with non-AI/an women finds that ESD reduces depression and ptsd symptoms, but no research has examined ESD among AI/an survivors despite calls from our tribal partners to implement ESD with AI/an adult women survivors. We have assembled an interdisciplinary expert team and elders/traditional knowledge keepers (tkks) as well as survivor advisory board (SAB) in the proposed work. Aim 1 (adaptation) includes using an indigenized adapt-ITT model to refine impower into an indigenized ESD for survivors (impower-survivors) via ongoing feedback from the topical experts/tkks and the SAB (aim 1A), theatre testing impower-survivors (aim 1B), and an open pilot trial of the impower-survivors with 12 AI/an women survivors to further refine and evaluate the feasibility of the program and research procedures (aim 1C). Aim 2 (evaluation) will include a pilot RCT of 100 AI/an women who have experienced SV and have elevated ptsd and/or depressive symptoms randomly assigned to the treatment or wait list control condition. We will assess the acceptability and feasibility of the impower-survivors (aim 2A) via program observations, post-session surveys, and exit interviews with AI/an women who have survived SV. We will test the hypotheses that impower-survivors will lead to changes in intervention targets (reduced fear of future SV, reduced self-blame, increased empowerment, increased social support, and increased cultural identity) compared to the wait-list control condition (aim 2B). We will also examine the hypotheses that there will be reductions in symptoms of depression and ptsd (primary outcomes; aim 2C) and suicidality, problem drinking, exposure to IPV, and sexual revictimization (secondary outcomes; aim 2D) among AI/an women survivors in the treatment condition compared to control.